This paper, from the National Poverty Center, analyzes current housing policy with relation to the recent trends of the low income population becoming decentralized. Authors seek to investigate if this strategy equates to increased economic efficiency by reviewing data from large metropolitan areas across the country.

From the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, this paper provides an overview of methamphetamine, as social workers are seeing an increasing number of children and families affected by meth. Authors present the most current research on methamphetamine, its effects on families, and treatment options available.

As the crime of human trafficking increases in prevalence, magnitude, and scope, trafficking victims who apply for TANF may emerge as a new Hard to Serve/Multi Barrier population for TANF administrators. This study offers a critical resource by assessing the needs of domestic service providers who are working with trafficking victims. Conducted for the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, the research team, led by Dr. Heather J. Clawson, completed a national sample of 98 interviews with domestic service providers.

This issue brief by the Institute for Community Inclusion examines how welfare reform affected Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) caseworkers in Massachusetts and describes the impact of these reforms on the lives of people with disabilities receiving welfare benefits.

This article, through the Institute for Women's Policy Research, examines the prevalence of disabilities among mothers and children in low-income families and the work participation rates among mothers.

This report pertains to The Alternative Kinship Care project, which was funded by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under a contract to the Urban Institute.

This study of Utah's long-term welfare families represents a commitment by the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS) to understand and document the situations of families as they reach the mandatory three-year lifetime limit for receipt of cash assistance. This study reflects transitions at both societal and individual levels. The long-term welfare recipients described were familiar with, and often dependent on, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Their experiences adjusting to TANF are in some ways unique to their cohort.

This report was prepared as part of a collaboration between ACF, Caliber Associates, and Howard University School of Social Work. Responding to concerns about the overrepresentation of minority children in the child welfare system, particularly African-American children, this exploratory, qualitative study was initiated to gain insight into the issue of overrepresentation (or racial disproportionality) from the perspective of the child welfare community, including agency administrators, supervisors, and direct service workers. The study was conducted through a series of site visits to nine child welfare agencies to talk with agency administrators, supervisors, and workers, among others, about their perceptions and attitudes about the causes and consequences of racial disproportionalities. The site visits also documented information about the types of programs, practices, and strategies that are being implemented to meet the needs of children and families of color, particularly African-American children and families.

This issue brief from the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reviews a study of 1,075 TANF applicants in Milwaukee County agencies between March and August 1999. Unlike recent TANF leavers studies, this study tracked the progress and outcomes for TANF applicants specifically.

This newsletter, from the North Carolina Department of Social Services and the Family and Children's Resource program, gives guidance on best practices to serving families. The article focuses on fatherhood involvement in child welfare and strategies for improving engagement among fathers.